9 PM. Inside the Art Academy. Gregory lay on the grass beside the school playground, his hands clasped behind his head, gazing up at the stars. The night sky above him looked just like Earth's, but even without finding the North Star, he knew he wasn't on Earth anymore. He was in a parallel world called Blue Star.
"Gregory, sophomore composition major at Qinzhu Art Academy." This was his new identity after crossing over.
He inherited everything from the original owner, especially the striking looks. But he couldn't remember his name from his past life or the reason for his crossing. All he remembered was that in his previous life, he seemed to be someone who was also incredibly good-looking and quite famous.
So, he could easily accept himself as "Gregory."
As he sifted through the original owner's memories, Gregory discovered that the history of this world was completely different from his own. In this land, which had bid farewell to war, art had become a common pursuit for everyone. The cultural atmosphere here was incredibly rich, and every field related to the arts—film, music, painting, literature, calligraphy—was flourishing like never before.
"Ideal Country."
That's how Gregory described it, especially for those in the arts.
But even in this utopia, misfortunes still occurred. The original owner he inhabited had faced such a misfortune—he was diagnosed with a terminal illness.
Yes, that dreaded term, which popped up frequently in dramas and always came with a wave of melodrama: "terminal illness." After crossing over, Gregory found out through his memories that he had inherited a dying body. The doctors had given the original owner a death sentence long ago: "This kid won't live past twenty-five."
It was a pain the original owner couldn't bear, so he chose to end his life with sleeping pills. This was how Gregory became the new master of this body; the original owner, at just nineteen, had given up the little time he had left—choosing death out of fear of death?
At first, Gregory thought this was the reason behind the original owner's suicide. But as he delved deeper into the memories, he realized the situation was more complicated than he imagined. The original owner came from a single-parent family. His father had died young, leaving his mother to raise him alone. The original owner had been sickly since childhood, often fainting from fevers, requiring frequent hospital stays, and the enormous medical expenses fell entirely on his mother's shoulders. Some money was borrowed, and some was earned through hard work.
To raise him, his mother had endured countless hardships. Not to mention, the original owner had an older sister and a younger sister—both of whom were very understanding. Despite being affected by the original owner's illness, they had never lived well. To start earning money and help out the family, the older sister gave up her chance to go to graduate school. To ease the family's burden, the younger sister had to wear her older sister's hand-me-down clothes from a young age.
And the final straw that broke the camel's back was… the original owner lost his chance to pursue his dreams.
He was originally a vocal music student, blessed with an incredible singing voice, recognized as the best in his field. His dream was to become a singer.
But in his freshman year, his illness flared up again, and this time, the direct consequence was that Gregory could no longer sing. His throat was damaged, making it impossible for him to endure the intense vocal training he used to love, let alone hit the high notes he was so proud of.
With no other choice, he switched to the composition major, which he wasn't as good at. By his sophomore year, he made the tragic decision to take his own life. It wasn't just because his dreams had been crushed; he didn't want to be a burden on his family anymore. Once life begins its countdown, every second is torture.
Having processed these memories, Gregory completely understood the original owner's decision. He couldn't stand on a moral high ground and accuse him of weakness. Everyone has their misfortunes, and some are simply harder to bear than others. This echoed the Buddhist idea that "life is suffering."
But Gregory wouldn't choose to end his life. Even though the body he inherited was unlikely to survive past twenty-five, he still had a few years left to make something of himself. He could write songs, study, share culture, and earn some money for his family.
Yes, it was tough to change his terminal fate, but maybe he could change his family's future with the time he had left.
This thought pressed heavily on him. He couldn't tell if it was the original owner's will or his own desire.
Perhaps what he inherited wasn't just the original owner's memories but also all the emotions tied to that mysterious bloodline. Gregory didn't resist that feeling.
However, when he tried to recall some of the artistic works from his past life, he was shocked to find that he couldn't remember them clearly, as if his memories were separated by a fog. Gregory asked himself, what was the point of his crossing over?
Then, a mechanical voice echoed in his mind, not quite an answer: [Blood test in progress… Genetic test in progress… Iris test in progress… Compatibility: 99.36%… Standards met… Database selection… Solar System, Earth… System binding in progress…]
A system?
Gregory understood. Though the details of his memories were blurry, he remembered reading similar stories in his past life. He knew this was a "golden finger" and the reason for his crossing.
No longer lost in thought, he waited quietly for the system to finish installing.
Before long, the mechanical sound returned to his mind: [Loading successful. Artistic System binding complete!]
"Hello," Gregory greeted.
"Hello, host. Congratulations on binding to the Artistic System. This system will do everything possible to help you become an artist on Blue Star. You can communicate with the system through your thoughts. Below is your host information displayed in text."
The mechanical voice paused.
Transparent subtitles appeared before Gregory's eyes.
[Age: 19][Lifespan: 22][Painting: 45][Literature: 105][Music: 1038][Overall: 1188][Others: Awaiting activation][Note: Except for age and lifespan, the values in each category represent your reputation, which indicates how recognized you are in that field. There's theoretically no upper limit; the higher your reputation, the more benefits you'll receive…]
Lifespan… 22?
The system seemed to sense Gregory's thoughts. Another line of subtitles appeared: [Twenty-five is the theoretical maximum age you can reach, but considering the actual situation, you will likely live only to twenty-two and will become completely paralyzed by twenty-one.]
"Is there a cure?" Gregory asked inwardly.
"When your reputation reaches the system's standards, you will receive treatment through the system. After several rounds of treatment, recovery is possible. The system will notify you each time you reach a certain reputation value…"
So, there was a chance for a cure. Gregory asked, "What about the newbie gift pack?"
Maybe Gregory was too familiar with the system, as it paused for a few seconds before replying: [The newbie gift pack has been sent to your host backend warehouse.]
"Enter the warehouse." As soon as Gregory spoke, a virtual interface popped up in front of him, resembling a game backpack. The first slot contained a small audio file—Song: "Life is Beautiful."A song as a starter pack?
When he clicked on the song, memories of it flooded back. Before this, he couldn't recall its melody or lyrics at all.
Gregory had a pretty good idea of how the system worked. The so-called reputation points were probably earned by releasing songs and getting recognized. Once he reached a certain level of recognition, he could cure his ailments and wouldn't have to worry about dying too soon...
What a half-hearted setup.
The system seemed displeased with Gregory's criticism and quickly added a new feature: "As you earn reputation points, you also get chances for a lottery, with a high winning rate."
"Oh." Gregory responded blandly, still thinking about the song. His vocal cords were damaged, and although "Life is Beautiful" wasn't demanding in range, his doctor advised against singing.
But that wasn't a problem for Gregory.He could have someone else sing for him.As long as he could earn reputation points, it didn't matter who sang. Although it made sense that the singer would get more attention, Gregory wasn't interested in fame; in fact, he somewhat disliked it—He didn't really know why.Maybe it was due to his past life?Even though he couldn't remember much from before, he had a vague feeling that he was quite accomplished back then, possibly with some achievements.
This song was interesting.At least it suited the original owner's situation well.
With that thought, Gregory suddenly grew curious. "System, if I've crossed into this world, does that mean I just disappeared from Earth?"System: "Life Swap."
The system had figured out Gregory's style. He was quick to understand and adapt, so it didn't need to over-explain and kept its responses brief.
"A life swap, huh."
Gregory's eyes brightened slightly, then he smiled softly. The idea that someone else was living his life wasn't too bad.After all, he was single.Though there were many things he didn't understand, the vague outlines of his past life memories were starting to form in his mind.It wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible either.Even the worst life beats being on a countdown to death, right? Here's hoping that stranger also gets a system, instead of experiencing "Life is Beautiful" all over again—At least we still exist.